14 DAY TRIAL // The Amazon Fire TV will need some great exclusive games coming from the retailer's first-person teams, but more support all around is needed as Nintendo already proved with the Wii U that great exclusives aren't enough, according to one industry analyst.
After plenty of different reports and speculation, Amazon finally revealed its Fire TV micro console to the world earlier this week.
The new device is catered to households that have yet to go into the console market and buy a PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, or Xbox One, as it can play games but also stream video content from a variety of services, including Netflix or, of course, Amazon Instant.
The console already has over 100 games available for it, although they're mostly mobile ones, like Minecraft Pocket Edition. A few exclusives, like Sev Zero from Amazon's new Double Helix team, are also available and more are coming.
According to analyst Asif Khan, the CFO of Virtue, Amazon needs to garner support from all over the industry, not just from its internal teams.
"We knew that Amazon was going to enter the games industry, but I am not sure who is going to feel compelled to buy it with a controller that costs 40 percent of the device. The success of the device as a gaming alternative will likely depend on the software that Amazon's gaming studio can create, but we have seen with Nintendo's Wii U flop that first-party content is not enough to get consumers to buy a device," Khan told GamesIndustry.
The analyst also noted that limited success awaits Amazon with the Fire TV, as the set top streaming box market is already a bit crowded, what with Google's Chromecast and Apple's upcoming TV refresh.
"There is chance that Fire TV can make some waves if Amazon's partners continue to bring games to the device, but in my opinion this product will achieve limited success," he added. "Clearly the set top box market has a lot of players and Amazon has a chance to contribute something to that increasingly crowded space."
"With that being said, I do not think the Fire TV is a game changer for video game consoles. It is a set top box that also plays games, with the potential of asymmetric gameplay."
It's going to be interesting to see just how popular the Fire TV will be and how many owners will use it for gaming besides video streaming.